Coke has pitched better of late after struggling terribly earlier this
spring. He has thrown 5 2/3 innings of shutout ball in his past six appearances, allowing three hits, walking two and striking out seven during that stretch.

"The thing that stood about about Coke today is his breaking ball was a
lot shorter and crisper," Tigers manager Brad Ausmus said. "It was more slider-ish than
slurve-ish."

Some Tigers fans wondered aloud on social media and elsewhere whether Coke would make the opening day roster, even though it seemed very likely all along that he would. He is an absolute lock now that a deadline to waive Coke and pay him just 25 percent of the salary that is owed him in 2013 has passed.

Teams could pay 45 days' termination pay to any player who was eligible for arbitration and signed a contract in the offseason by waiving them by 2 p.m. Wednesday. That meant the Tigers could have waived Coke and paid him just $475,000 of the $1.9 million they re-signed him for in the offseason. But they didn't.

Beyond that, it's pretty clear who at least six of the seven relief pitchers are who will make the opening day roster. But what role will each of them fill? That's not clear.

Lineup updateThe opening day lineup for the Tigers remains a mystery for now. But it sounds like Torii Hunter will spend the majority of his time in the second spot in the lineup.

"I don't know that he'll hit there all the time," Ausmus said. "But I know he excelled there and he's comfortable there, and I've talked to him about it. I think more often than not I'd like to see him there, but there are going to be situations where he's not."

Note that those possible lineups simply
feature the nine players expected to get the most playing time. For example, Bryan Holaday will start against some left-handers and Davis will sit against some right-handers.

Making things difficultAusmus has planned all along to have rookie Nick Castellanos hit near the bottom of the lineup. But Ausmus said the fact that Castellanos has hit the ball so well has complicated that thought process "a little bit."

"I do not like to rush young hitters and put too much pressure on them," Ausmus said. "I just think it's a mistake. He's made it hard to stick to that theory."

Injury update
Ausmus said that Don Kelly was slated to participate in baseball activities Wednesday for the first time since injuring his left hamstring
Sunday afternoon. Ausmus said the plan is for Kelly to do some running
Thursday and that he thinks Kelly will be able to get some at-bats prior
to opening day. "I'm not concerned about it," Ausmus said. "My best
guess is that we will get him some at-bats before we leave here."

Green light onAusmus has stressed aggressiveness on the bases throughout spring training and gave everyone on the team the green light to steal before the first Grapefruit League game. That green light remains on for all.

"It's easy to get used to the stop sign," Ausmus said. "That's not a problem. You just don't run. It's easy to go in that direction. It's the other direction that sometimes gets tougher over 162 games."

Ausmus said most of players will keep the green light once the season starts.